Relationship between correcting error and smoothness of movement in the process of motor learning.
Jun Yabuki, Kazuto Yamaguchi, Takashi Ito and 2 others
PMID 33132532WHAT IT FOUND
Twelve healthy adults learned to distribute weight evenly during sit-to-stand.
Load errors dropped significantly after practice, but movement smoothness only improved at the lower back in one direction. This small study in healthy people does not show how patients with impairments learn.
Key findings
01Absolute and variable load errors decreased significantly from pre-test to both short-term and long-term retention tests.
02Movement smoothness, measured by entropy, showed a significant decrease only in the X-axis at the lumbar spine (L3) between the pre-test and long-term retention test.
03Subjective effort declined significantly between day 1 and day 2 of practice, while performance errors remained stable.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only 12 healthy young adults, so findings cannot be generalized to patients with neurological or orthopedic impairments. The task was considered relatively low-difficulty for the participants. Movement smoothness was assessed using a complex entropy metric from accelerometers, which is not standard clinical practice. The sample size was very small, limiting the certainty of the null findings for most smoothness measures.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest and stated that the study received no funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that improved accuracy in weight distribution reflects improved overall movement quality. In this study, most measures of smoothness did not change significantly, even though load errors dropped. Additionally, this was a small study in healthy adults, so it does not demonstrate how these learning processes occur in patients with disabilities.